Temporal changes in the structure of the male nuptial signal in the brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans (Kirtland)

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 1111-1119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah A. McLennan
Keyword(s):  
Body Surface ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Temporal Changes ◽  
Breeding Cycle ◽  
Experimental Examination ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Signal Structure ◽  
Lateral Body ◽  
Brook Stickleback ◽  
Black Pigmentation

Within the Gasterosteidae, only members of the clade Culaea + Pungitius + Gasterosteus contain nuptially coloured males. Of these males, the nuptial signal has been subjected to detailed experimental examination in one species, the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus. Since most components of the signal did not originate in G. aculeatus, descriptions of signal structure and variability for other members of the Gasterosteidae are a critical prerequisite to discussions of the processes underlying the evolution of male nuptial colouration in these fish. In this paper I investigated the changes in the male nuptial signal for another member of the clade, the brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans. The results of this investigation revealed that as in G. aculeatus, the signal is a complex mosaic, in this case representing the interaction between changes in the intensity of black pigmentation in the ventral – lateral body surface, the dorsal – lateral body surface, the eye bar, the fins, and the spines. These variables interacted to produce four distinct male colour mosaics corresponding to the stage a male had reached in the breeding cycle and the sex of an intruding conspecific.

Meristic variation, asymmetry, and aspects of the habitat of Culaea inconstans (Kirtland), the brook stickleback, in Manitoba

1977 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 398-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. E. E. Moodie
Keyword(s):  
Fluctuating Asymmetry ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Meristic Variation ◽  
Brook Stickleback ◽  
Predatory Fishes ◽  
Food Competitor ◽  
Gill Raker ◽  
Potential Food

Phenetic traits were compared in 45 Culaea inconstans populations in southern Manitoba. Small body size characterized individuals of populations exposed to potentially predatory fishes. Skewing of the gill-raker distributions was greatest among populations sympatric with Umbra limi, a potential food competitor and predator. These patterns of variation are in some aspects similar to and in others contrast with those found in another stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus. Less fluctuating asymmetry occurred in the pectoral fin rays of stream-dwelling populations than in those of lakes. Care will be required in using fluctuating asymmetry as an indicator of environmental stress.

Experimental investigations of the evolutionary significance of sexually dimorphic nuptial colouration in Gasterosteus aculeatus (L.): temporal changes in the structure of the male mosaic signal

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (7) ◽  
pp. 1767-1777 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. McLennan ◽  
J. D. McPhail
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Black Body ◽  
Evolutionary Significance ◽  
Experimental Investigations ◽  
Breeding Cycle ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Body Colour ◽  
Colour Intensity ◽  
Lateral Body ◽  
Blue Eyes

Although classically described as "red," the three-spined stickleback male's nuptial signal is a complex mosaic of at least three colours: blue eyes, black dorsal–lateral body, and red ventral–lateral body. Seven variables (intensity, hue, and distribution of red body colour; intensity and hue of blue eye colour; intensity and distribution of black body colour) were scored for 19 males across an entire breeding cycle. These variables interacted to produce four distinct male colour mosaic signals corresponding with the stage a male had reached in the breeding cycle. No single variable was sufficient for the delineation of all breeding stages: however, the distribution of red body colour reliably distinguished the courting male from nesting and parental males. Variability in signal intensity between courting males was greatest for the red component of the nuptial signal and both intra- and inter-male variability in the overall intensity of red was greatest during courtship. Based upon these results, future investigations of the role of intersexual selection in shaping the male nuptial signal in this species should offer females a choice between males differing in the intensity of red rather than the traditional "red" versus "nonred" dichotomy.

Geographic and morphological variation in the presence and absence of the pelvic skeleton in the brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans (Kirtland), in Alberta and Saskatchewan

1971 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph S. Nelson ◽  
F. Mervyn Atton
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Fishery Management ◽  
Fish Introduction ◽  
Spine Length ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Full Development ◽  
Normal Individuals ◽  
Brook Stickleback ◽  
Presence And Absence ◽  
Skeleton Formation

Brook sticklebacks, Culaea inconstans (Kirtland), are known from 20 locations in Alberta and Saskatchewan in which a high proportion of the individuals lack all or part of the pelvic skeleton. These locations are interspersed and surrounded by other locations containing individuals with a normal pelvic skeleton. Individuals which lack the skeleton are of both sexes and are fertile in at least one of the lakes.Considerable variation exists between locations in the proportion of individuals with and without the pelvic skeleton. Morphological intermediates are known from most of the 20 locations and virtually all degrees of pelvic skeleton formation exist between its absence and its full development. Little or no gradation exists, however, in pelvic spine length between their absence and presence. Although the pelvic spines are the first part of the pelvic skeleton to appear during ontogeny, they are present only in intermediates with a virtually complete skeleton base. In addition, many intermediates are highly asymmetrical in their pelvic skeleton while development during the ontogeny of normal individuals is symmetrical.There is a greater tendency for individuals in which the pelvic skeleton is deficient to occur in lakes which lack an outlet rather than to occur in lakes with a permanent outlet. An unusually high proportion of the lakes with these aberrant individuals have been subject to fishery management activities (fish introduction and poisoning), but these disturbances are not causing the loss of the pelvic skeleton.

Geographic Variation in the Brook Stickleback, Culaea inconstans, and Notes on Nomenclature and Distribution

1969 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 2431-2447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph S. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Geographic Variation ◽  
Northwestern Part ◽  
Clinal Variation ◽  
Body Depth ◽  
Spine Length ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Dorsal Fin ◽  
Fin Rays ◽  
Historical Origin ◽  
Brook Stickleback

Clinal variation in dorsal and pelvic spine lengths was observed in the brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans, in an examination of 1366 specimens from 62 localities. Mean spine length was longest in the Wisconsin to Ohio area and generally decreased to the west, north, and east of this area. Shortest spines were observed in the northwestern part of the range of the species. A population in New Mexico, believed to be relict, was highly variable, but most specimens had long spines. Pelvic spines, and the supporting skeleton, were absent in most specimens from five localities in Alberta. Pelvic skeleton size and body depth were generally greatest in the area east of Wisconsin and least in the northwestern part of the range. Although C. inconstans is generally described as being naked, a series of about 30–36 small bony scutes was found along the lateral line in all populations examined. No marked geographic variation was observed in number of pectoral rays, caudal rays, soft dorsal-fin rays, soft anal-fin rays, gill rakers, scutes, or vertebrae. The nomenclature and distribution of C. inconstans are reviewed. The historical origin of clinal variation in spine length is discussed.

Unusual Occurrence of the Brook Stickleback (Culaea inconstans) in the Mackenzie River, Northwest Territories

1972 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 1655-1656 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Falk
Keyword(s):  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Red River ◽  
The South ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Resident Population ◽  
Great Slave Lake ◽  
Unusual Occurrence ◽  
South Shore ◽  
Brook Stickleback ◽  
Mackenzie River

Two specimens of the brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) were taken in the mouths of Pierre and Tsital Trien creeks near Arctic Red River on the Mackenzie River during 1971. Previous most northerly published records were from the south shore of Great Slave Lake. The specimens may have been carried downstream by spring floods and may not represent a resident population.

Telencephalon and Behaviour in Gasterosteus Aculeatus

Behaviour ◽  
1961 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 256-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Segaar
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Optimal Number ◽  
Breeding Cycle ◽  
Normal Pattern ◽  
Olfactory Bulbs ◽  
Normal Behaviour ◽  
Breeding Cycles ◽  
Thick Stratum ◽  
Building Behaviour

AbstractThe investigation concerns the problem of the function of the Telencephalon in the reproductive behaviour of Gasterosteus aculeatus males. This behaviour involves aggressive, sexual and parental activities whose strength was measured in breeding cycles some weeks or months after small parts of the Telencephalon had been removed and compared with non-operated animals. 1. Removal of the N.n. olfactorii or of the Bulbi olf. does not change the normal behaviour. 2. Removal of one complete Telencephalon-hemisphere also does not change the normal behaviour. 3. Removal of the frontal parts of the Telencephalon, including the olfactory bulbs, produces irreversible modifications in the behaviour in subsequent breeding cycles consisting of 1) significantly low Aggression, 2) Sex activity of significantly short duration and 3) significantly high Parental care. 4. Removal of the bilateral parts of the Telencephalon in a breeding cycle one month after the operation produces broadly the same modifications as after frontal operations, but after two or three months the behaviour can revert to the normal pattern. 5. After a transverse cut between the olfactory bulbs and the commissura anterior the behaviour can revert to normal in as little as one month. In other words these changes are reversible. 6. The recovery of the normal pattern is accompanied by regeneration, but is not proportional to the actual amount of tissue regenerated. It happens that recovery of the normal pattern in some days of the breeding week is accompanied by a modified pattern and a striking antagonism between the tendencies in other days. Since this runs sometimes parallel with apparent total regeneration, sometimes with partial regeneration it is probable, that architectonic structures are involved. 7. The regeneration after lateral operation is histologically visible after 42 days as a thick stratum of neuroblasts in the periphery and after 84 days as delamination of the same kind as can be observed in normal animals, and regeneration of nerve fibres. The Telencephalon of Gasterosteus males is concerned with nest-building behaviour and also with governing the relative balance of aggressive, sexual and parental behaviour. This integration is apparently of survival value, ensuring that the animals do obtain, defend and care for the optimal number of clutches per nest.

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